Newfields Teen, Lancaster Girl Win Community Service Awards

CONCORD, NH – Two New Hampshire students were honored this month with awards for their community service work. Joli Lunderville of Lancaster and Andrew Silsby of Newfields are the state honorees for 2019 by the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. Both Andrew and Joli will be given engraved silver medallions and $1,000 each at an event in Washington, D.C., later this year.

Andrew, 18, of Exeter High School, organized a golf tournament that raised around $44,000 during the past three years to assist kids with brain tumors. As a brain tumor survivor himself – he was diagnosed and had surgery at 5 – Andrew understood the importance of helping other patients. During the past decade before the tourneys, he organized book, toy, and coat drives to help other children. For the golf tournament, he secured numerous sponsorships, collected items for raffles, and recruited players to participate.

“I am one of the lucky ones,” he said in a statement. “I am a survivor, healthy and feel like it is important to give back to those less fortunate.”

Joli, who is 12 and a seventh-grader at Groveton High (Middle) School, organized her Girl Scout Troop to make pillows and toys for animals living in shelters as part of the troop’s community service project after seeing advertisements showing neglected dogs at shelters. The scouts made posters requesting donations for materials and then, used tennis balls and old clothing to create the toys. They also showed officials at a shelter how to make the toys in order to carry on the tradition.

“The people who were trying to help the animals in shelters inspired me,” she noted, adding that the project gave her a “great warm feeling in my heart.”

This year, two other teenagers were named distinguished finalists by the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards.

Samantha Randlett, 18, of Brookline, who attends Hollis Brookline High School, recruited volunteers and raised money for her youth group to rebuild a house in Texas that was damaged by a recent hurricane. The work by the group assisted in helping the displaced family live in their home again.

Tejas Sathyamurthi, 17, of Nashua, created a data-driven model that can predict wildfires and alert emergency services in advance after witnessing the recent forest fires in California. A senior at Nashua High School South, he also founded STEM clubs at the Boys and Girls Club that provided participants with hands-on examples of how to use STEM to solve problems.